Tristan Ray still thinks about the one who got away. The Culver City native, who describes himself as “36 and starting over,” recently left a steady career in entertainment management to pursue a musical passion that he’s left un-indulged since his high school years. His debut single, Peace with the Past, which will drop on Wednesday October 15, 2025, distributed by Venice Music, is a serene, melancholy country ballad that explores regret and the seemingly insurmountable but necessary task of moving on. You can feel the heartache in each chord and lyric.
“Music was really just a weird way of therapy,” Ray said over the phone. “I was in love with someone in 2016. Thought I was gonna marry her.”
Needless to say, Ray and his partner at the time were serious. They created a Pinterest board of what they thought their kids might look like. (“I didn’t start that Pinterest board,” Ray made sure to caveat.) It seemed unavoidable that they were each other’s endgame. Then things ended.
“She was my first of a lot of things, and it took me a very, very long time to get over it,” Ray said.
Ray went to therapy, and years passed, but still the memory of his ex plagued him.
“I had a dream [recently], and she was in that dream,” he said. “It felt real, and then I woke up, and I started playing these chords on the guitar.” Those chords eventually took the shape of “Peace with the Past.”
For Ray, music isn’t just a helpful tool in the healing process; it’s a necessary one. He described his parents growing up as “PR agents” who were more interested in teaching him the value of answering questions about his well-being politely rather than truthfully. It was a lesson that followed him into his time in therapy, where he struggled to tell his therapist that he was feeling anything other than, generically, good.
“Music was actually the thing that gave words to how in my heart and soul I was feeling,” he said. “Music was always my thing. I just never really knew to what extent.”
That passion is what he attributes his early success to. After a 20-year career in Hollywood, Ray is no stranger to what kind of a grind it takes to get one’s art in front of the right person and stand out from the crowd. But when it came to “Peace with the Past,” the right person found him.
“I truly believe if you chase the thing that you’ve always been naturally built for, doors just open,” he said.
Ray was contacted by Troy Carter, CEO and founder of Venice Music, for a one-on-one Zoom call. Before founding Venice, Carter was a legendary manager in the music industry, helping grow the careers of household names like Lady Gaga, Meghan Trainor, John Legend, and more. One could say he has an eye for talent.
“I was like, ‘Bro, you know I’m nobody!’” Ray said.
Or maybe Carter knows something Ray doesn’t.
And for Ray, getting Carter’s vote of confidence was only the beginning. In the new year, he plans to continue promoting “Peace with the Past” by playing a series of showcases, and next month he’ll be back in the studio recording his next song, titled “Leap of Faith.”
“It’s literally happening in real time,” Ray said. “I quit my job a month ago to go all in on this music thing.”
You might be thinking it, but Ray actually said it.
“I am literally living what I am singing.”
Brett Morrow
